What Are They?
Power surges are an increase in the voltage that powers your electrical equipment.

Surges often go unnoticed, often lasting only 1/120th of a second, but
they are much more common and destructive than you might think. According to recent
studies, your electrical equipment is constantly experiencing surges of varying power.
Some of them can be absorbed by your power supply while others can only be handled by a
quality surge suppressor. The most destructive power surges will wipe out anything that
gets in their way!

Where Do They Come From?
In this power-hungry computer age, utility power systems are often pushed beyond their
capacity, resulting in unstable, unreliable power for consumers. Overburdened power grids
can generate powerful surges as they switch between sources or generate "rolling
surges" when power is momentarily disrupted. Local sources can also generate surges -
for example, if your neighbor starts up an electrical motor or the office on the floor
below you blows a fuse.

What About Lightning?
Lightning can send a spectacular power surge along any conductive line to destroy
everything in its path. NO MATTER WHAT OTHER MANUFACTURES CLAIM, NO SURGE SUPPRESSOR IN
THE WORLD WILL SURVIVE A DIRECT LIGHTNING STRIKE. Itís like saying your car would
make it through nuclear explosion! However, if you make the right choice in power
protection, your surge suppressor will take the hit - ending up melted - but your
equipment will stay protected.

What Can I Do?
Power surges are a fact of life, but protecting yourself is relatively easy with Tripp
Lite power protection. All our high-quality Surge Suppressors, Line Conditioners and UPS
Systems feature exceptional surge handling circuitry. Our systems come with Ultimate
Lifetime Insurance covering all your connected equipment - even against direct lightning
strikes! With Tripp Lite Ultimate Lifetime Insurance, if your connected equipment is ever
directly damaged by a power surge from any source, Tripp Lite will pay up to the level of
the unitís policy to have it replaced or repaired.

How can I compare and choose the level of protection I need?
There are many rating systems that measure surge protection:

Joule Ratings - The Bigger The Better! Joule ratings
measure your surge suppressors ability to absorb surges. Joules are a way of measuring
energy. Unfortunately some companies may inflate their joule ratings without adding any
extra protection circuitry to their products! In general, 200 joules will give you basic
protection, 400 joules provide good protection and anything with over 600 joules can be
considered exceptional. Tripp Lite surge suppressors boast ratings of up to 1500 joules -
and have the advanced circuitry to back them up!

Surge Amp Ratings - Higher Ratings Offer More
Protection. Although often replaced by Joule ratings, Amp levels are another important
factor in determining surge strength. Once again, you should go for the highest amp
protection levels you can find.

UL 1449 Voltage Let-through Ratings - 500, 400 &
330 Underwriter Laboratories tests each surge suppressor and rates them according to the
amount of voltage they let-through to your equipment. The lower the let-through voltage,
the better the surge suppressor is. UL established the 330 volt let-through as the
benchmark because lower ratings added no real benefit to equipment protection, while surge
components, forced to work harder, failed prematurely. Be wary of companies claiming lower
let-through ratings! Not only are they misleading, theyíre also an admission that a
product may not have the specs to tell it like it is!